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The Pot Bowl?

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details of my garden
MendezEnrique / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

I want to make clear this viewpoint is from a leadership perspective and NOT a political view. It has plenty to do with the decline in leadership of core moral values that has made America a great country, and Colorado and Washington great states respectively. I have been following this issue with a keen interest for some time and feel now is an appropriate time to share my thoughts. I have arrived at this conclusion largely due to Wyoming being a peripheral state to Colorado.

As many of you know Colorado and Washington have recently embraced the use of marijuana. I have no real issues with people using marijuana, but here is where the real rub comes in. Does Peyton Manning really want to be associated with retiring after the “Pot Bowl”?

Seriously now; During this time when Colorado and Washington are embracing (according to federal law) an illegal drug, for the sake of revenue, Colorado has lost to the state of Wyoming (so far) three legal revenue generating manufactures.

Magpull Winner
abcovey / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

An even deeper look at the issue of safety shows these states are lacking in judgment and are neglecting to provide their residences reasonable safety measures for a “few more dollars”. This is also indicative of a continued moral decline in leadership of both the Federal and State governments by telegraphing the message, “You don’t have to step up and be responsible, we’ll lower our standards to meet you where you are”. Meanwhile signaling danger to all who travel the highways as well.

The short term effects afforded the states are as follows:

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Where have all the good (young) men gone?

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Where have all the good men gone - 1

– Herman Melville, Moby Dick

I have had a few instances in the past few weeks where I have had to think to myself, what would your father think about that? Not only your earthly father but your heavenly father as well. Sometimes I get the idea that some young men (not all) don’t think they will ever have to be accountable for their actions. Back to that in a minute…..

First of all I want to thank a few of you fathers out there that are raising God fearing young men. I think it will save me a lot of time with a shovel, when my girls start to date. I ask you though, where did you learn the lessons you are sharing with your sons? I bet it was your father and grandfather. I am confident my parents would still be married today if my father was still alive, and I watched my grandfather sit beside my grandmother’s hospital bed as leukemia took her.

Where have all the good men gone - 2Please don’t get me wrong, I am not the perfect father, Lord knows, I ask for help. But sometimes I see or hear of something some young man has done or said, and my first thought is not, What would Jesus Christ think…..It is what does your father think? Is no one accountable anymore? Are we a soft enough society that a village no longer raises a child? I am pretty sure all of my neighbors had “Beat on sight when necessary” instructions for me when I was a kid.

We spend a lot of time on this blog discussing leadership, and I have come to think as leaders we are responsible to not only each other, but those without a good example. I said to someone, “…that really isn’t any of my business…” and their response to me was “Why isn’t it?” It has taken me all week to figure out that, maybe I should make it my business. Maybe we should all start making a few more injustices our business.

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Another Reason to Take Care of Our “Youngers”

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Another Reason to Take Care of Our Youngers - 1I am beginning a short adventure in Western Europe. So, I thought I would try to learn a bit about my environment. Things are very different here. The economics, education, families, are very different. Locals do not blink to pay several dollars for a small plastic bottle of Coke or Dr. Pepper or a month’s rent for a nice dinner. The very fabric of the workplace is also very different. The undercurrent often seems to be that Europeans are superior to Americans and that we are a couple of generations behind them socially. But I found one area that we should try to avoid.

Another Reason to Take Care of Our Youngers - 2Please do not interpret anything herein as a criticism of life here. People have been very warm, inviting and friendly and I think I am going to love my adventure. That is not the point. The point that I hope to make is that we, as Leaders can learn from our Western European colleagues as we try to assist and support our younger generation towards greatness.

I want to share some recent research that caught my attention studying why the younger generation and employers are so mismatched. Some of the findings suggest ways that you and I should be focusing on our efforts to mentor, lead and support the younger ones around us.

Here is the proposition:

The problem of youth unemployment in the European Union is not new. Youth unemployment has been double or even triple the rate of general unemployment in Europe for the last 20 years. The events of the past few years have dramatically exacerbated it, however: 5.6 million young people are unemployed across Europe, and a total of 7.5 million are neither being educated nor are they working. Moreover, while young people are eager to work, more than half of those without jobs say they simply can’t find one—all while businesses across Europe insist they struggle to find young people with the skills they need.

Another Reason to Take Care of Our Youngers - 3This sounds terrible to me. There are areas where things may be slightly better, but there are areas where things are much worse. For example, in Italy, the unemployment rate for people under 24 years of age is more that 40%. The root cause for this appears to be

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Financial Leadership at Home

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Financial Leadership at Home - 1I’ve been on more than my share of finance committees and served as Treasurer for numerous churches and non-profits. And I’ve come to realize that those who do not enjoy this type of work can be as passionate about avoiding financial chores and discussions as those that are gifted administratively are about ensuring proper planning, monitoring and reporting of the financial activity of an organization.

Likewise at home, many otherwise fervent leaders often find that anything and everything seems to take priority over doing those things that are necessary to provide financial leadership for their families…things such as Budgeting, Saving/Investing, Giving, and protecting the family’s wellbeing with a Will and Life Insurance.

Financial Leadership at Home - 2If there are children in the home, these things become exponentially more important. The children must be protected financially in the event of the loss of one or both parents, the loss of job(s), a natural disaster or medical issue as well as educational needs. Preparing for these possibilities may involve sacrifice, both in terms of the time that it takes to plan, research, execute, and steward these activities as well as the money itself that could be spent on other things with more immediate and probable gratification.

Of parallel importance is the responsibility to lead by

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A Charge to Lead!

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A Charge to Lead! - 1

There was a great quote in my company newsletter last month. To anyone who doesn’t receive that newsletter, here it is.

“Leaders don’t create more followers, they create more leaders”
-Tom Peters.

You may think that this makes no sense that any group must have one leader. But the reality is that any good leader will foster and develop other leaders thereby achieving far more through the group than they can on their own. Even more controversial is the belief that anyone, in whatever position they find themselves, can be a leader. I’ll restate that. Anyone can be a leader. I have seen many of our team members grow and achieve great things on the project on which I am now working. Their example makes them leaders.

A Charge to Lead! - 2Now for the harsh reality, not everyone will become a leader. Why?

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Leadership and Sacrifice

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Leadership and Sacrifice - 1I recently spent an afternoon with some other former, retired military men, and we went to see the Lone Survivor movie. I guess it never occurred to me before the sacrifice made by Lt. Michael Murphy. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, I won’t spoil it for you, but in a nutshell, he made the ultimate sacrifice for the rest of his team. Couldn’t he have commanded another to do what he wanted? Surely he wasn’t the only member of the team capable of making that call. It occurs to me that maybe sacrifice is the most important piece of leadership. I am sure we have heard this before, but I think it bears repeating.

We have all heard and read great pieces by our members about servant leadership, and covenant leadership, leading by example and I am sure sacrificial leadership as well, so if I repeat anything in these ramblings I apologize up front.

I started doing some research on this topic, during the football games, and here are some of the things I discovered.

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Fatal Words

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I recently facilitated a group study with some friends on a book by John Eldredge called “Wild at Heart”. It was really an eye opening study for me because it stirred memories of my childhood. Deep in this study two words presented themselves, “Fatal Words”. Honestly…I haven’t stopped thinking about their application by fathers, mothers, and leaders.

Let’s first addFatal Words - 1ress these at the fatherhood and motherhood levels. As fathers and mothers our words are just as important if not more so to a child’s life as our love. To a young son he needs to hear the words of affirmation. He needs to hear that “he is a fine young man”, or to hear the reinforcements of “how to treat a lady”, or more importantly to hear that he has what it takes to overcome the trials in life. To a young girl, she need to hear “how beautiful she is”, or to hear that she has what it takes to become whatever she wants to be. Affirmation is a very powerful tool in the early development years of our young men and women. Without it society fails!

Fatal Words - 2But sadly, too often parents are caught up in the demands of everyday living and raising children that all too easily the wrong words roll from our lips. Then just like that… without much less a thought, we have placed in the heart s of those we love, a fatal wound. Failing to support the young hearts and minds of those entrusted to us by the words we use is akin to throwing a dagger to their hearts. How we as parents all too often actually set kids up for failure by the use of words.

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Is Gov. Christie Raising the Bar?

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Where is the bar - 1No, I am not talking about that kind of bar!

Much has been made this week about New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s handling of “Bridgegate”. For purposes of this article I really don’t care about whether or not he had any prior knowledge of the actions taken by some of his senior staff. I have some thoughts on that aspect of the story, but they are not based upon actual first-hand knowledge on my part. So, I will try not to cloud the issue and these musings with those thoughts.

Where is the bar - 2My purpose today is to look at his leadership in the midst of this current crisis for him and his administration. And further, I want to draw some conclusions based upon the comparison that is being made with the President of the United States and how he has handled some crises in his administration. Again, I will not take a partisan political stand. Instead I will merely comment on the comparisons being made in the mainstream media.

I spend a lot of time each day in my car commuting to and from work. Many of you do the same thing. One of the constant themes this week has been that the governor is doing a much better job of handling this crisis than the embattled president is handling his own. Many are saying that he is showing much greater leadership than the president.

Where is the bar - 3Some have gone as far as to say that he has “raised the bar” with his leadership and example of crisis management. If that is true, then where is the bar?

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Manday: Lone Survivor

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lone-survivor-mark-wahlberg-ftr

I experienced Lone Survivor on this weekend.  Simply put.  Go see it.

During the film, two Operators were seated in front of my spouse and me.  They were sobbing through the entire film.  Several times, they were calling out the names of actual SEALs who were making cameos in the film.  To say the film was powerful would be an understatement.

Veteran Chris Marvin wrote in Parade–

In my opinion, seeing Lone Survivor should be a civic obligation.

As citizens, we don’t owe much to our country from a legal perspective. Paying taxes, obeying laws, and serving on juries are mandatory. Voting is optional. Yet our democracy depends on citizens exercising more than the bare minimum of civic responsibility.

lone

I do not have much to add to the many comments about the film.  Just go see it.

 

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Clear Communication?

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Last year, I posted an article titled, “Let Your Yea be Yea; and Your Nay, Nay” in which I discussed the importance of clear communication from a leader. I used a negative example of a press release quoting John Chambers of Cisco Systems which was filled with very ambiguous, non-committal verbiage…or what I call “weasel words”.

Because there was a lot of positive response to that original post, I thought I would continue in that vein, but on a much lighter note. I ran across the following list a number of years ago. It “interprets” terms used in scientific or academic papers, and I found it rather humorous.

  • “It has long been known”…I didn’didn’t look up the original reference.
  • “A definite trend is evident”…These data are practically meaningless.
  • “While it has not been possible to provide definite answers to the questions”…An unsuccessful experiment, but I still hope to get it published.
  • “Three of the samples were chosen for detailed study”…The other results didn’t make any sense.
  • “Typical results are shown”…This is the prettiest graph.
  • “These results will be in a subsequent report”…I might get around to this sometime, if pushed/funded.
  • “In my experience”…Once.
  • Clear Communication - 1“In case after case”…Twice.
  • “In a series of cases”…Three times.
  • “It is believed that”…I think.
  • “It is generally believed that”…A couple of others thinks so too.
  • “Correct within an order of magnitude”…Wrong.
  • “According to statistical analysis”…Rumor has it.
  • “A statistical-oriented projection of the significance of these findings”…A wild guess.
  • “A careful analysis of obtainable data”…Three pages of notes were obliterated when I knocked over a glass of iced tea.

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